Now Sajid Javid suffers racist abuse from Corbyn supporters.

The fact the majority of women at Yarlswood are black is obviously because of their countries of origin.
The fact they're women makes them at high risk of sexual assault and harassment. I agree with Smileless and others who say the fact they're women with no power is the main issue here.

I agree too Iam and think that cries of ‘racism’ are bandied about far too much.It’s because they are women in a vulnerable position.

I too agree

The Black women who investigated then and who reported institutionalised racism are wrong then? The uninformed members of GN who have little experience of such matters and have not spoken to any of the women involved know better. Isn't that racist?
The evidence womenagainstrape.net/inthemedia/dossier-calling-yarl’s-wood-closure-chronicles-dec

Are the majority of detainees black?

Yes most are of African origin. The women of course originate from many countries. They report being called names and subjected to racist comments. Things did improve a little but in March 2018 women were again on hunger strike.

And they were investigated by black Women?

Yes by a section of Women against Rape termed Black Women against Rape Butthere is a lot on-line about what has happened.
One woman's story

We are on a hunger strike because we are suffering unfair imprisonment and racist abuse in this archaic institution in Britain.
Posted by DV
While I cannot speak for every detainee in Yarl’s Wood I can tell you that our group of protesters who are participating in the hunger for freedom strike are of mixed backgrounds and religions but we all have one thing in common, We are detained INDIFINITELY! and we are refusing food because we are DESPERATE at the treatment we endure by the HOME OFFICE, not because of religious beliefs but rather fundamental ethics regarding our rights as HUMAN BEINGS.

We feel voiceless, forgotten and ignored.

This is a desperate measure due to desperate circumstances.

One of our group was called to see a home official on Tuesday and that same official asked her “why don’t you go back to your country” she has an asylum case pending.

It does not surprise me hear this as I believe there are many xenophobes working here, and while we were talking about it amongst ourselves a Serco manager walked past and heard one of our repeat this phrase and blurted out “that’s a good idea”.

We are on a hunger strike because we are suffering unfair imprisonment and racist abuse in this archaic institution in Britain.


Sorry if this sounds a little incoherent but it’s my fourth day without food.

Tagged HungerForFreedom, protest, Yarls Wood

We are on a hunger strike because we are suffering unfair imprisonment and racist abuse in this archaic institution in Britain

I do hope any racist abuse these women are suffering is recorded? There is no excuse, ever.

However - unfair imprisonment? It's a detention centre prior to deportation, and I imagine (and hope) all their needs and comforts are having to be met?

Why is it archaic if all mod cons are provided?

Surely it is pretty obvious that anyone in the country illegally (or on dubious grounds) has to be held until conditions have been satisfied, or they have been deported, or should we not bother check and put out the welcome mat for everyone? Put that to the taxpayers as a vote winner.....

That is the reality unfortunately, and other side of the coin. Unless anyone can think of a better solution?

Perhaps the best we can hope for is a swifter decision making process regarding deportation, if possible so that those here illegally do not feel their imprisonment is unfair.

Serco "A Serco spokesperson said: “We know which residents eat their daily meals in the restaurant and there is also a shop in the centre where residents can buy food. Anyone refusing all food is closely monitored and supported with the professional healthcare team and their situation is kept under close review.

“Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons in his report published in November 2017 found that ‘there had been significant improvements at the centre’, noting ‘inspectors came away from Yarl’s Wood impressed with the progress the centre had made since the last inspection’ and commenting that ‘the leadership and staff could and should take much of the credit for the improvements.’”

The Home Office says last year more than 90 per cent of people at Yarl’s Wood were detained for four months or less and almost two-thirds were detained for less than a month.

“Detention and removal of those with no lawful basis to stay in the UK are essential parts of effective immigration controls,” a Home Office spokesperson said.

“We do not detain individuals indefinitely – when people are detained, it is for the minimum time possible and detention is reviewed on a regular basis.

“Any decision to maintain detention is made on a case-by-case basis but the detainee’s welfare remains of the utmost importance throughout. The provision of 24-hour, seven-days-a-week healthcare in all immigration removal centres ensures that individuals held there have ready access to medical professionals and levels of primary care in line with individuals in the community.”

You're making the terrible things that have happened in Yarl's Wood a racist issue trisher when it isn't.

I don't understand "Women against rape termed Black Women against rape". I'm a white woman against rape and wouldn't want it to be termed 'White woman against rape'. The colour of a rape victims skin is irrelevant; it is a violation of women regardless of their race.

Isn't the crime of rape bad enough without trying to use it as an example of racism?

You're making the terrible things that have happened in Yarl's Wood a racist issue trisher when it isn't

Yes, true Smileless.
Why do people do this? Is a a form of guilt-tripping the masses, to read into a situation a whole load more than there really is?

Virtue signalling by proxy?

I don't know I am not an expert on rape Smileless2012, however as the campaign group Women against Rape has deemed it acceptable that such a group should exist and should be part of their organisation I would imagine that there are very real reasons for its existance.
I haven't been in Yarl's Wood, nor I suspect have any of the posters on GN. There are numerous reports from inmates and those in close contact with them that there was a culture of racism. I am shocked that people refuse to believe these reports. It shows that actually racism runs very deep in our society.
Incidentally most of the women invoved are not illegal immigrants but are asylum seekers. Eu directives recommend that asylum seekers should have their case heard and a decision made within 28 days. One woman was in Yarls Wood for 3 years.

According to the Home Office, two thirds of inmates are detained for less than a month.

Referring to asylum seekers as being detained "prior to deportation" is condemnatory and untrue. Around 70%of the women detained are released and remain in the UK. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/yarls-wood-women-released-why-being-detained-prison-watchdog-a8054886.html
In fact the prejudice and racism revealed on this thread is shocking.

Your need to make an issue that's about the abuse of women into a racist issue is shocking trisher as is your accusation of prejudice and racism toward your fellow GN's because they don't agree that the abuse of women in Yarls Wood is racist.

Referring to asylum seekers as being detained prior to deportation isn't condemnatory and untrue, it's part of the 'story'. Using your own statistics "around 70% of the women detained are released and remain in the UK" therefore around 30% must be deported.

This has nothing to with racism but the need to ensure that those who are here, are here legally.

trisher you are naively believing every word of this ‘ one woman’s story’ in fact the vocabulary used sounds very much like a native British speaker to me.
Hunger strikes will not force the authorities to allow them to
Remain here, if that isn’t the right thing to do.
It sounds as if things are improving at Yarls Wood, and any
Reports of rape must be investigated, as I am guessing they have been.
No country in the world simply allows any asylum seekers or immigrants to come into their country unchecked, with the recent exception of Germany who accepted ( and invited) a great deal of them, but that was unprecedented.

Accusing fellow GNers ( rather a lot) of racism is a poor move on your part trisher I have seen no evidence of that at all.
It’s an awful thing that women have been abused, either physically or verbally, some of the custodians/ guards have
Been acting as guards everywhere are at times wont to do, being cruel because they can be.I hope it has been thoroughly looked into.

The use of one woman’s accusations taken as truth just to play the racist card is shocking

The asylum seekers at Yarls Wood are released if they cannot be deported safely, and a lot come from countries where it is not safe for them. To condem Yarls Wood for poor treatment is a travesty, compared with the treatment they will have had on the journey it is paradise.
Although Windrush and Yarls Wood are not linked the affect us the same, they do not become British citizens and are still liable to be deported in the future. Even the children of Windrush born here are not citizens unless they have applied formally, at the present time it costs several thousand pounds to prove your right to citizenship and is very time consuming. You have to provide 4 pieces of documentary evidence for each year you have been resident, at least 10 years, if you are black and working class that is a very tall order.
If you are not a citizen you have no right to benefits or NHS and cannot work legally, so being released from Yarls Wood is no easy option. EU migrants are OK, the vast majority of Asians have got passports so would have got the documentation but all others who have never had a passport are caught. This issue is nowhere near resolved, the present hostility to foreigners is massively greater than the home office is telling us.

I gave you one woman's experiences as an example there are many others. But dismiss them. It's a real example of what a toxic place Britain is becoming for those seeking asylum, and for foreigners in general.

trisher, you gave no proof that the woman’s experiences were true , anyone could have written it .

lemongrove your remark trisher you are naively believing every word of this ‘ one woman’s story’ in fact the vocabulary used sounds very much like a native British speaker to me
Is about as racist as it can get.Implying these women are asylum seekers, therefore they cannot speak or write English, they are uneducated and cannot express themselves. Actually some of the women came here as children and were educated and worked here until they were arrested and threatened with deportation to a country they had not seen since they were children.
The woman's story came from Detained Voices. You can read it and other harrowing accounts here detainedvoices.com/tag/yarls-wood/page/2/
It isn't pleasant reading and surely they can't all be making it up?

"...good-faith debate and compromise become impossible once one side has painted the other as inveterate bigots..."

Michael Shermer

trisher are you now saying that was written by one of the Windrush generation?
Earlier you said they were mainly from African countries.
You are being very argumentative when you have no knowledge really of the true picture and assume everyone and everything is ‘racist’.

That’s a good quote baggs ??